Junkers F13

The Return of a Legend

When the Junkers F13 was built in 1919, it was the first cantilever all-metal aircraft in the world. Its designer, visionary inventor and entrepreneur Hugo Junkers, was convinced that commercial aviation was the future. Many of his predictions and estimations have come true and many of his structural principles are still used in airliners today. His revolutionary ideas were made possible by duralumin, a lightweight, high-strength copper-aluminium alloy.

The president and CEO of RIMOWA, Dieter Morszeck, feels connected to Junkers’ legacy in a number of ways. His father used the same aircraft material for his lightweight tropics trunks over 60 years ago, and he himself is an avid pilot. This gave rise to the idea of giving the F13 new wings by commissioning the building of an airworthy replica. This interactive app takes you on a journey from the origins of the original aircraft 100 years ago and its successors, right up to its replication and the maiden flight of the RIMOWA F13.